Kumihimo: Making Braids

Hi There. I'm back life has been throwing me some curves lately, so I have not been posting as much as I would like.. but I'm here.. that's a good thing.. We make time for what we enjoy doing. :-) I want to share a hobby of mine , that in a round about way fits in with my beading. Making decorative braids, which dates back to the 8th century, when the buddhist religion spread in japan, people used colorful braids in ceremonies.. These where usually made of silk and became an art to decorate clothing, banners , lace samurai armor together and many other uses.. All this info is found in the little book by Kathy King James I received in my kit from WWW.PrimitiveOriginals.com and really it included all needed to get started.. clear instructions to make the braids, history as well as the kumiloom, bobbins to hold the cords .... what is this hobby called.. Kumihimo ! It is a wonderful relaxing hobby that you can carry anywhere.. and easy to do... Ok so why? I'm talking about this... to put beads on of course.. lol. I am still figureing out how to finish the necklace off.. the ends. That will come. What I love with this is the fact you pick colors , special strings.. cords.. to work these braids.. Below you will see examples of what I have done over the months... just experimenting and learning..

Picture one shows the lay out of the colors for this braid I have made... This one is a 12 strand braid.. focus on the two top black strings and the two bottom red strings... Step one. bring the top right black down next to the bottom red .. on the right..

This is what it looks like when that black thread is brought down..

so you have 3 on the bottom... next Bring the red on the left up to the top to the left of the black thread...

ok so now... this is what you have... turn the wheel counter clock wise (turn left) and now you will have two reds on top, and a yellow and black on the bottom... again gram right red, bring down to the right next to the black ,,,, grab the left bottom yellow up next to the red thread left on the left... turn..

pattern is left left... down,,,, right right up.. turn left...

Here is a picture of the loom with the bobbins, keeping all the threads under control, notice I've used sponge curlers.. as bobbins.. I will be ordering more bobbins.. you see the kit comes with 8 which is fine as long as you keep it to 8 threads.. i was trying a 12 thread this time..

close up of the curlers... (all you do is unsnap and let go some more thread) as you use up the thread.. The other bobbins are so easy the thread pulls easily as you work..

This is the back side of the kumiloom there you see the braid forming .. usually as you work the bobbins hang and you look at the loom from the top as you move the threads and move the loom around..

And finally here is that 12 thread cord that is created using these threads.. in that order on the loom... had no idea! Only reason I went with those colors is because I ran out of black and red.. so added yellow in the mix... but I like it...

Now here are a few cords I made since I had started... just playing.. these are all 4 thread cords. i've used different sized threads some with fluffy tuffts.. used crewl thread.. which made for smaller thinner braids. So I the future I will be reporting and showing different cords.. what threads used... what colors.. I will show the design on the kumiloom.. and what the resulting cord that came of it.. So for any of you that would like to use that design... use it.. and enjoy it!

Thank you for stopping by my blog.. send me a message and a picture of your cord.. and what you used it for.. I would love to post the picture on my blog... Have a great Day! Diane :-)